1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a garden tool for cutting weeds and shrubs. The long handle and V-shaped blade allow the user to stand while using the device to trim weeds and garden plants with precision. Practitioners with difficulty kneeling or those who prefer to stand will find the invention particularly useful.
Gardening tools have been employed for cultivation ever since the age of the ancient Fertile Crescent cultures. Such tools have changed dramatically since the time of the earliest shovels and hoes. Stone and iron tools were eventually replaced with modern metals that do not easily chip, crack, or rust. Handles are now comprised of wood or plastic to make the tools lighter and easier to use for long periods of time. Despite the long history of improvements to gardening tools, many problems still exist. Many tools still require a user to repeatedly lift the tool and bring it down sharply, or the reverse motion. Some tools require users to remain hunched over for lengthy periods of time, causing back pain and risking spinal injury. Tools may also be unwieldy or only have one useable surface, requiring users to contort their bodies or move into awkward positions to get proper leverage on the tool.
These problems are particularly pertinent to the activity of plant cutting and weed removal. Traditional methods of cutting and removal require a hoe like device to chop the weeds. The hoe is raised high and brought down rapidly to chop and the plants. Other weed removing gardening tools require the user to rip the plant out of the ground using the tool. These actions can put great strain on a user and may require awkward positioning of the body. To reduce the risk of injury, a weed-cutting gardening tool is needed that does not require users to make large repetitive motions or contort their body awkwardly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present V-shaped weed-cutting tool has a unique blade shape and bevel that is not disclosed by the prior art. This structure provides practitioners with the ability to use different edges of the device to trim in small or hard to reach areas of garden undergrowth. It can also be used for edge trimming along walkways and paths. The prior art devices do not disclose devices that offer the structure or function of the present invention.
Many of the weed cutting devices presently disclosed by the prior art are used for weed pulling rather than weed cutting and edge trimming. Patents such as Hoover, U.S. Pat. No. 7,100,899, Lampe, U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,527 disclose tools having a V-shaped cut-out along the rear portion of the working end of the tool. Alternative forms of the device are disclosed in DeArmond, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,325 and Watson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,830, wherein the V-shaped cut-out is located at the front of the device. The use of these devices is relatively similar. A user positions the V-shaped cutout up against a weed and then pulls upward or at an angle, using the practitioner as leverage to pull the weed out. These devices do not offer a user the ability to cut plants off at a given level or to trim only a portion of the plant. The present invention's side facing blades facilitate both cutting of stalks as well as trimming small areas (edge trimming) of a plant. Prior art devices lack the outwardly bladed V-shaped structure that allows for precision trimming.
Some gardening tools do offer bladed edges, but these devices have drawbacks of their own. Garland, U.S. Pat. No. 2,251,048 describes a gardening tool having a pentagonal working end. The tip of the pentagon is disposed at the front of the device and two jagged bladed sides extend from the tip towards the rear of the device, forming two cutting, digging edges. Large, jagged edges assist the device in cutting or pushing down any plants in the path of the device. Another such device is disclosed by Turnquist, U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,744, which teaches a garden hoe having a jagged triangular head. The working end of the Turnquist hoe has a triangle shape with two jagged sides, but the head is permanently fixed in a position suitable for tilling and other common uses of a hoe. This fixed position renders the device inoperable for the purpose of edge trimming or precision cutting of plants and weeds. Neither the Garland nor the Turnquist device discloses smooth bladed sides suitable for precision cutting. The use of jagged blades to cut plant stalks will result in ripping and tearing of the plant material. This may be good for weed removal but would be counterproductive for use in precise and neat trimming of plants.
These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. None of the aforementioned devices are suitable for neat, precise cutting and trimming of plants. Though the devices may be useful for ripping up unwanted plants and tilling soil, they lack structure that would render them suitable for careful edgework in a garden. The present invention solves this problem by presenting a device that has a number of smooth beveled cutting edges, having several angles of orientation, to allow for manipulation of cutting surfaces in garden undergrowth. The present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing weed-cutting gardening tool devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.